Is this something I can reject a prospective tenant for?

Question

A tenant disclosed to me that the reason they are moving is because there is mold and mildew in the place they currently live. She claims that it has damaged her furniture and caused her health problems. While I sympathize, I don't want that furniture in my house.

On what grounds can I deny the application? "Rejected for contaminated furniture"

Jill F. · Answer

my policy is not to take anyone dumb enough to complain about a previous landlord to a potential landlord. Think about it...that's like going to a job interview and whining about your last employer. bad plan.

Anthony Wick · Answer

@Aidan Mulligan

Ok. You’re a decent person. That’s a good thing. That means you’ll be a good landlord and give your tenant a good place to live for their rent. But you absolutely need to protect yourself first, or there won’t be a business to protect. I rarely have a problem tenant. Almost never. Because I reject more interested people than I accept. They’ll find a place to live. It just shouldn’t be your place if they don’t meet your criteria. If you own 30, 40, 50 units, you can loosen your criteria. 1 unit? Make sure your tenant is solid and you have no doubts.

Aidan Mulligan · Answer

@Anthony Wick Because this is my first rental and I haven't broken into that no remorse business is business mindset yet. Honest answer.

David Stone · Answer

I wouldn't reject based off contaminated furniture, but here are some acceptable reasons you can reject the applicant. I get these calls a lot when screening tenants and rarely do they meet my minimum qualifications. 1. Unsatisfactory references from landlords, employers and/or personal references.

2. Evictions.

3. Frequent moves.You have to decide what constitutes frequent moves and apply the same criteria to every applicant.

4. Bad credit report.

5. Too short a time on the job.

7. Smokers.

8. No verifiable source of income.

9. Too many vehicles.

10. Too many people for the property. Check your state’s Landlord-Tenant Law.

11. Drug users. They must be current drug users. If they are in a drug treatment program and no longer use drugs, the Federal Government considers them handicapped and protected by the Fair Housing Act.

12. Pets.

13. Any evidence of illegal activity.

14. History of late rental payments.

15. Insufficient income.

16. Too many debts.

17. Conviction of a crime which was a threat to property in the past five years.

18. Conviction for the manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance in the past five years

Anthony Wick · Answer

@Aidan Mulligan

Why are you even giving her a reason? She would have to sue you and prove you rejected her due to a protected class. Simply move on.

Jeff Bridges · Answer

I can tell you you are wasting your time with the pre-screening or do not do any pre-screening, or you wouldnt be wasting your time on folks who wouldnt qualify to begin with. I've narrowed down to 3 pre-screening questions I ask all potential applicants: how much do you make? When do you need to move in? are there any smokers or pets? This makes sure they will be a good fit for my property and meet the main criteria that I have. I have tons more, but sometimes you only get a few questions to ask before they might not answer all of them via email, text, FB, etc. If you had asked up front, you could tell them they are welcome to apply, but they wont likely meet the income criteria if they couldnt document or actually make the 3x the rent. This avoids you wasting time on folks who wont qualify. You dont refuse to let them apply, you just tell them up front they won't likely meet your criteria but go ahead:) This applicant is someone who is not going to meet your income criteria, and you were better off finding out much sooner and not having to think about moldy furniture before the much more obvious issue with their being qualified. You're getting distracted by unimportant aspects of the applicant.

Also fun fact: if the applicant does not answer all of the questions on your application like say forget to fill in the income disclosure or provide pay stubs, thats an incomplete application. You can't process an incomplete application nor are you obligated to. So you can just move on from that. I prefer to avoid outright denials.

here is the guide:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/2013/01/27/tena...

Jason D. · Answer

@Aidan Mulligan I 100% agree with you. Her October salary doesn't pay her August rent

Dennis M. · Answer

Ask yourself How good is this persons hygiene and character if they are willing to use moldy furniture everyday  . You’d allow that crap in your nice clean house ?Would you sleep on a bed covered in mold ? look you gotta toughen up .you can literally  reject a potential tenant for anything you want .. you just don’t tell them that . Nobody has a gun to your head to take on this idiot . Reject based on income if your worried about it

Ned J. · Answer

The issue with mold is real....but 1000x overblown from what people fear.....

The risk of any mold in her furniture contaminating your house is miniscule.......if you unit is clean and dry, there is next to ZERO risk. Mold requires moisture and warmth to grow..... unless your house meet that requirement, its not going anywhere. He furniture would have to be pretty nasty.....and if she can tolerate nasty furniture, you got bigger issues coming, so run away.....

Marilyn Cuevas · Answer

@Jeff Bridges

I like this policy too. If they aren’t conscientious enough to fill out the application completely - forget it

Is this something I can reject a prospective tenant for?

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